


Are you ready for me?

by JaneWeller



Category: Iron Man (Movies), MCU, X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: Action, F/M, Non-graphic description of violence, Romance, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 17:56:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15418437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneWeller/pseuds/JaneWeller
Summary: Tony Stark and his bodyguard Jade Carter are invited to a charity gala held in Las Vegas. Nothing bad can happen in the Sin City, right?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnnaVronsky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaVronsky/gifts).



> I'm very grateful to gallagher101 from deviantART, who offered me her help in beta-reading this story, and to my dear friend Merawlee who took over and beta read this little monster with the lightning speed.  
> Mera, I'm in your debt.

_Caesar Palace Casino, Las Vegas_

 

All hell broke loose. People were running and screaming while they tried to find a way out the casino. Some of them even attempted to hide under the Poker and the Baccarat tables, crying and trying to call the police, but there was no service.

         She was standing in the middle of the chaos, next to the Craps table, watching men in black tactical uniforms and black ski masks flooding in from what it appeared to be all directions. They fired a few rounds towards the ceiling as soon they entered, which caused even more panic among the gathered people.

         The casino room was quite big and there were many guests attending the charity gala. The Caesar Palace was hosting the fundraiser games night in which all the winnings were to be donated to a few charity foundations, mostly those supporting children in need.

         She closed her eyes for maybe two seconds to concentrate on muting all background noise. When she opened them once again, she was focused on her only task for that night, mainly protecting her boos who currently was tapping on his fancy custom-made phone, apparently trying to somehow override the lack of service. She had never tried to understand how his intricate tech worked.

         “Have you locked the suite’s door?” he asked with a hint of irritation in his deep voice.

         “They lock automatically if you did not notice it yet.”

         She quickly bent down and pulled a knife from her right combat boot. Tonight she was wearing a strapless dress made of black velvet with a corset-like bodice and a full-length skirt which covered her feet pretty well. She was not attending the gala to be a pretty doll on the arm of a billionaire.

         “Carter, what the hell are you doing?!” He asked when she simply ripped off about three-quarters of the skirt’s length.

         “My job,” she simply answered while drawing a gun strapped to the inner side of her left thigh, “And we are leaving now.”

         She grabbed him by his right arm and dragged him towards the closest safe spot, using the panicking people to hide them from the assailants.

         “We can’t leave all these people behind,” he hissed at her.

         “Right now, Stark, my only concern is to keep you safe. That’s what you are paying me for. So please shut up and do what I say, alright?”

         She pushed him behind one of the columns and took a peek at the attackers. Stark was tapping again at his phone while Carter tried to assess what those men wanted. It did not look like a heist. It was too messy for that, too loud, too flashy. Plus, they let some people go. _They’re looking for someone specific. They must have a spectacular backup plan._ The way they acted, not caring about the police or security guards, let her know that their escape plan had to be a very good. She managed to notice that most of them did not carry regular firearms; instead they held what looked like stun guns. When one of them turned, thus allowing her to see the side view of his weapon, she sucked in her breath. She had recognized it on the spot.

         “Let’s go,” she whispered to Stark and pushed him hurriedly towards the nearest door when one of the masked men came too close to where they were hiding.

         Unfortunately, the door led to the small… cleaning closet. Stark found the light switch so they could see their surroundings. She did not waste any time. She pulled out the lock picking tools from her other boot and quickly locked the door. That would buy them a few minutes. She looked up to the ceiling, but it was made of a solid piece of plaster. There was not any other way out; not even an air vent big enough for them to hide in. They were trapped between buckets, bottles of bleach, and a few old looking mops.

         “If you wanted to have the Seven Minutes in Heaven with me, you could just come to my bedroom,” he seductively whispered into her ear. The warm breath made her shiver… among other less appropriate things.

         “How can you joke right now?” Carter hissed in response.

         Her mind was trying to come up with some plan but it was interrupted when someone on the other side tried to open the door, rattling the doorknob. When she heard a gun being reloaded, she knew that there was no time to explain anything. No, it was time to act and act quickly!

         “Whatever happens, just don’t scream,” she whispered to Tony just before she moved closer to him, her free hand going around his neck. And then, she kissed him.

         Stark was too shocked to immediately react but when he finally started to reciprocate and kiss Carter back, she pushed him hard against the wall, her lips never leaving his. Then, he felt very strange, a coldness seeping into his bones, along with a weird feeling of weightlessness.


	2. Chapter one

_Stark Mansion, Malibu_

_Two days earlier_

 

She put in the earphones and scrolled through the playlist on her MP3 player until she found the track she wanted to listen to. After setting it into looped repeat mode and adjusting the volume to drown out any other sounds, she stretched her legs again and set off down the driveway. At first, her pace was sedated, jogging just fast enough to warm up her muscles but, when the song’s pre-chorus started, she broke into full sprint. _“Keep moving subject, matter around. Keep your eye on the prize and your feet on the ground.”_ _Shinedown_ had always been her favorite band and she noticed that, with time, their songs were getting better and better. There was no music more perfect to listen to when she was working out.

         Her high ponytail bounced with every step she made. She kept pushing her body to even greater effort, welcoming the pain in her muscles with a smile. _If you don’t feel pain anymore, you’re the dead man, recruit._ That had been what Sergeant Kowalski had told her squad during boot camp training. Actually, he had repeatedly yelled that motto at them every single day.

         She only letup her workout when she reached the end of the driveway, mostly because she saw a postal truck stopping next to the mailbox. She jogged towards the driver’s door and took the cardboard envelope from the mailman, signing the receipt he was tending towards her. The letter was for Tony Stark and, judging by the sender’s name, it was most likely an invitation to some charity event. Everyone wanted to have the famous Iron Man attending their party. For her though, it was a security nightmare. She sighed and resumed her run, this time choosing the path that went along the cliff’s edge.

 

         After entering the kitchen, she tossed the envelope on the counter and went straight to the fridge to take out a bottle of water mixed with some honey, lemon juice, potassium and magnesium powders, and some freshly squeezed orange juice. She had prepared it earlier this morning, adding some ice cube before storing it in the fridge. It probably was not too healthy to drink it ice-cold, but she did not care. She felt hot and she just wanted something cool to sip.

         “J.A.R.V.I.S. is Tony already up?” she asked Stark’s A.I. after emptying the bottle and tossing it into the dishwasher.

         “He did not leave the workshop since last night, Miss Carter.” British accent added something to J.A.R.V.I.S.’s overall behavior and refusal to call her by her given name.

         She sighed, took the envelope, and went downstairs to Stark’s workshop. Being Tony’s bodyguard was not an easy task, She often felt she was less a bodyguard and more a babysitter to this eccentric billionaire. Sometimes she thought about injecting a GPS chip into him so she could track him easily.

         Carter was an ex-fighter pilot. She had served a few tours both in Afghanistan and in Iraq before she had left the Air Force after being shot during a patrol flight over the Iraq in October of 2009. She had considered herself to be very lucky. She had managed to eject herself from her F/A-18E jet before it had crashed and then, she had been found by the US Army. It had been a sign for her to find another job.

         She had lost her father when she had been only fifteen years old and his death had left an imprint on her. It had been a reason why she had joined the Air Force to serve her country. Her father had done the same, though he had not been a soldier but a secret agent working for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistic Division agency. She had learned about this when she had gone through his stuff months later after his funeral. Unfortunately, she had not been able to find much concerning this agency, not even information on their recruitment criteria, their policies, nothing. All she had known about them had come from her father’s files.

         After she had left the Air Force, Carter had decided to go into private security business. She had been hired by one of the largest security companies in Los Angeles. She had protected many celebrities during her eight months of work there. The job had been rather easy and it had been mostly keeping the fans at the right distance from the person she was protecting.

         In July of 2010 she was assigned to one of Hollywood’s actresses. Carter had been told that the actress had been getting emails from a stalker and that she had wanted a female bodyguard to accompany her everywhere, even into the bathroom. As it had turned out, there had been four stalkers working together and that had been why the police had not been able to identify them in time. They had decided to kidnap the actress, but they had not predicted that Carter had been something more than just a personal assistant like she had been pretending the whole time. Long story short, they all had ended up in the hospital with broken bones, concussions, cuts, and bruised bodies.

         The story had made the news and a few days later Carter had been offered a new job by none other than Anthony Stark himself. She had taken quite some time to think about it. The unwanted fame that the actress had put on her had only convinced to work for Stark and she had accepted his job offer. It had not felt right to replace his personal bodyguard Happy Hogan, but Happy had moved to Europe with Pepper Potts, after this one had been promoted to the CEO of the European division of the Stark Industries. From what Carter had heard, Potts had not been able to truly handle everything that had pertained to the whole Iron Man situation. And the attack on the Stark Expo had been the last drop which had pushed Pepper to make some drastic changes in her life. She had opted for safer relationship with Happy, both professionally and romantically.

         Stark had started to drink more after Potts left, apparently trying to overcome the fact that his feeling towards Pepper had not been reciprocated. It had left a lot of mess for Carter to clean up. She had managed to get his drinking more or less under control. J.A.R.V.I.S. had been a big help in accomplishing that, reminding Tony about important things, scolding him for drinking too much, and showing all the bad stuff that had been caused by alcohol intoxication.

         After almost a year after taking care of the eccentric billionaire, Carter could say that she had managed to push Stark into much healthier lifestyle. It had been a very bumpy road through hell but he had seemed to be out of the woods and she had not had to worry so much about him anymore.

 

         She found Tony sleeping at his desk, in front of a several monitors with renders of the newest Iron Man armor. He had the worse bed hair she had ever seen and was drooling a little bit on his hand. Carter stealthily moved to the coffee machine and started a new pot. When she poured some coffee into Stark’s favorite mug, she dropped the envelope hard on his desk, waking up her boss who seemed to be totally disoriented.

         “Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” she said to him, placing the cup in front of him.

         “What’s the time?” he mumbled, taking a sip on his coffee.

         “It’s eight in the morning already.” Carter pointed at the envelope. “This came today. Don’t trash it before you open it like you usually do.”

         “You already know that I don’t like getting things handed to me.”

         “I didn’t hand it to you. I tossed it on your desk.”

         “Smartass,” Tony muttered under his breath.

         Carter just laughed at that. She got used to Stark’s antics after all those months of working for him.

         “Just don’t fall asleep again. Gillian is coming in forty minutes and you are in a very dire need of a shower.”

         Tony sat a bit straighter and rested his head in the palm of the right hand, looking at her as if he was assessing her with his still sleepy gaze.

         “You know, we could shower together. Saving water and stuff, you know.”

         She snorted in a very unladylike way. It was not that she did not find him attractive, but it would be highly unprofessional for her to fall for him even if she wanted it.

         “Only in your dreams, Stark, only in your dreams.” With those words she walked out from the workshop leaving her boss to his own device.

 

         Carter did not rush with her shower, letting the water to soothe her slightly aching muscles. One of the perks of her current job was that she did not have to be in hurry all the time. Yes, her schedule was pretty hectic; Stark loved to work at odd hours. He also had a tendency to suddenly go for a drive or even fly to another country without telling her. J.A.R.V.I.S. was truly a blessing for her, always knowing where his wayward creator was.

         After her shower, she toweled and then put on black jeans paired with a red t-shirt. She blow-dried her hair just to the point when it was only damp and not dripping water, and then brushed them thoroughly. After that Carter left her room, walking barefoot to the kitchen. She was always starving after her morning run and today she craved baked tortilla pockets with stir-fried veggies, ham, and lots of cheese.

         When she entered the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks seeing Stark frying something in the pan. There were two plates set on the breakfast table with two mugs and a pot with steaming coffee in the middle.

         “What’s the reason for this celebration?” she asked while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

         “Your first year of working for me,” Tony replied, making sure Carter did not see what he was preparing.

         “That’s a day after tomorrow, actually, the second of August. Today is July 31st.”

         She tried to take a peak over his shoulder but he shooed her away before she could see anything. _It was worth trying._

         “I know, but we won’t have time then.”

         Tony turned off the stove and took the pan to the table to unload two enormous grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, her favorite guilty pleasure food. It meant that he wanted something from her. It was more than obvious, though Stark pretended as if he had no clue that his plan was absolutely transparent.

         “What do you mean by that?”

         “There’s the charity gala in Caesar Palace in two days and we’re invited.” Tony sat on his chair, poured himself some coffee, and took a hungry bite of his sandwich. Carter wondered how long it had been since his last meal.

         “What you mean is that you’re invited and I’ll have to keep your butt safe from women throwing themselves at you. You know, now that you’re single again.”

         Carter took a careful bite of her own sandwich and almost moaned aloud at the taste of it. It was perfect, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside with deliciously melted cheese, ham, pickles, and some of that sauce recipe which had been invented by Tony’s grandmother.

         “What?” she asked Stark catching him staring at her in kind of weird manner. “Do I have something on my face?”

         “Has anyone told you that you look sexy when you’re enjoying food?”

         The question took her by surprise and if she had been taking a sip of the coffee, she would have spat it all over the table.

         “Are you drunk already?!”

         “I’m stone-cold sober, Carter.” He sounded offended by her accusation despite the fact that he was known for his drinking problems. “When you’re done with breakfast we’ll go shopping.”

         “Don’t you have more than enough suits for that kind of galas?”

         She licked her fingers clean doing it very slowly, not noticing that Stark shifted into his chair while gulping silently.

         “It’s shopping for a dress for you.” He cleared his throat first.

         Carter looked at him surprised and then spontaneously she started to laugh. Her boss kept getting funnier and funnier with every word he said.

         “I do not wear dresses. Period.”

         After stating her position on that matter, she ate the rest of her sandwich, sipping on her coffee while Stark glared at her.

         “I need a date for that gala,” he finally spoke.

         “You have a whole notebook full of women’s numbers, so just pick one, and make a call.”

         “I don’t want any of them, I want you,” he said firmly and Carter felt a bit weird as if that short statement held much more meaning that it seemed to carry.

         “First of all, you are my boss. Secondly, I’m your security detail, not your date. Thirdly, I’ve already said that I don’t wear dresses.”

         Carter’s glare could melt a stone, but apparently it did not have that kind of effect on Stark because he was still smiling in that kind of cat-seeing-canary way.

         “I _am_ your boss and as my bodyguard you have to guard my body, so you have to be next to me. Plus, nobody would expect that a hot woman in a killer dress can actually kick some asses.”

         “Over my very dead body.”

         With that words said she stood up and left the kitchen, trying not to turn around to wipe out that smirk from his face. She took the grilled cheese sandwich with her.


	3. Chapter two

_Los Angeles_

_Mimi La Femme Boutique_

_One and a half day before the gala_

 

The whole drive to LA was accompanied with AC/DC’s songs blasting from the car’s speakers. Carter wanted to put a few bullets in all of them, but Stark had made sure that she had not brought a gun with her.

_Fucking bastard!_

         He also had made sure she would not bail out on him during the shopping time.

_Damn devil in a human skin!_

         Somehow, Tony had discovered what she had desired the most and he had not hesitated to use it for his own gain. Basically, he had blackmailed her into this, whatever ‘this’ was supposed to be.

         They were passing dozens of buildings, getting close to downtown until Tony parked his car next to a rather small boutique. It looked modest with just a door and a single store window, but Carter knew that this neighborhood was full of the most exclusive and expensive shops.

         “The gala is a one-time deal. I don’t need an overpriced dress,” she protested, glaring at her boss.

         “I’m the one who’s going to pay for it, so you have no other choice. Besides, they have a seamstress here to make a dress fit you perfectly if it’s needed.”

         Tony got out of the car and so did she, not waiting for him to go around the vehicle and open the door for her. Many women would want a man to do that, but Carter was different. She was independent and very confident about herself. Though she appreciated some chivalrous gestures, she refused to acknowledge other ones, like going first through the door. When it came to this, she was super old-fashioned. She preferred a man to go first as it was supposed to be done ages ago when it was men’s responsibility to check a perimeter first before they let a woman pass.

         She stopped in front of the boutique to stare at the dress on the display. The soft cream-colored fabric was falling from the waist down in soft waves. The bodice had some dainty floral patterned lace sewn to it along with a few dozens of small pearls. It looked exquisite at least if not downright beautiful, but at the same time very restraining and impractical for someone like Carter.

         “Are you coming?” Stark asked her, standing impatiently at the already opened door.

         “Yes,” she replied and muttered under her breath, “unfortunately.”

 

         When the door closed behind her, she found herself in a completely different world. The walls were in different shades of beige and lavender colors. The furniture was all made of black oak. The first room had only two more dresses draped on the mannequins. The rest of the space was occupied by a counter and a small waiting area with a glass coffee table and two black leather sofas. In the back of the room Carter saw an open doorway leading to a corridor and then further into the shop.

         A second after the door closed, a young, elegant woman walked in from the back of the store. Her auburn hair was tied up in a low bun and she was wearing a nice sleeveless dress in pastel lavender color that kind of matched the walls. Her high heels were a few shades darker. She had a full make-up done, but it was done in a very natural way, accenting her high cheekbones and dark grey eyes.

         “Good morning, Mr. Stark,” she spoke, smiling at Tony while Carter tried to figure out if the woman recognized him because he was so famous or because he was a regular customer.

         She did not pay any attention to Carter who was wearing her usual bodyguard attire: black pants, plain black t-shirt, combat boots, and lacked any make-up whatsoever.

         “My name is Emily. How may I help you?”

_So she knows him because he’s famous._

         “I need a dress,” Tony spoke. Carter snorted, trying to suppress the laughter because her vivid imagination gave her an image of Tony wearing a red and gold cocktail dress. “For her,” he added, gesturing towards his bodyguard.

         She could see a look of disappointment in Emily’s eyes, but she could not care less if she was judged because of her looks.

         “Of course, Mr. Stark,” Emily replied with a fake smile still plastered on her face. “Please, come with me.” She gestured towards the corridor and led them to another waiting room.

         It was twice the size of the one they had just left. One of the walls was rounded and covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors. It surrounded a small dais that was expanding into a catwalk which led to a giant, U-shaped black sofa on the other side of the room. The walls were painted in dark purple and the ceiling was in pale violet shade.

         “What is the occasion if I may ask?”

         “A charity gala in Las Vegas,” Tony answered the question while taking a seat in the middle of the sofa. “Carter needs something sexy to show off her assets.”

         He pretended not to notice the ice-cold glares she shot at him while she was plotting his demise.

_He’s my boss._

_He’s my boss._

_I can’t kill him._

_Oh fuck it!_

_I’m so going to kill him when we get back home._

_And I’ll throw his body over the cliff._

         “Of course,” Emily smiled sweetly at him. “I’ll send someone to bring you a drink.” Then she turned her attention to Carter. “Miss Carter, please, if you could follow me to the changing room.”

         The room was quite spacious for its purpose and divided in half by a lavender-colored curtain. There were also seven silky robes hanging on the wall near the curtain. Emily brought her a few sets of lacy lingerie to choose from and then left to fetch the first dress.

         Carter ignored it, not interested in wearing something like that. Also, she did not want Stark to buy her underwear. It felt wrong since he was her boss. She only removed her boots when Emily returned carrying something very pink and sparkly.

         “Mr. Stark picked it up for you. He’d like to see you wearing this dress. What’s your shoe size? We have a few pairs of strappy stilettos that would go great with this dress.”

         “No, thank you. I don’t wear high heels.”

         It was funny to watch the look of pure shock on Emily’s face. Carter was not sure if the woman thought she was just weird or downright crazy.

_It’s probably a bit of both._

         She took the dress from the shop assistant and went behind the curtain. She took off her clothes and folded them neatly before leaving them on the small shelf. The dress was a bit tricky to put on because of the thin straps. It was backless so Carter had to take off her bra as well. The fabric was soft and clung to her body like a second skin showing all the curves she had. It widened just above her knees flowing to the floor and pooling into the mermaid’s tail. As much as she liked the neckline and the way the dress hugged her body, Carter hated the color, the length of it, and that it was backless. She gathered as much of its fabric as possible not to trip over it and went back to the “show room” as she already started to call it.

         Stark was sitting comfortably on the sofa, the tray with a bottle of scotch and one empty glass sitting on the coffee table in front of him while he was holding the other one in his hand, sipping casually the amber liquid, the boutique’s lavender iPad lying down next to him.

         “How am I supposed to walk in this when more than a half of the fabric is on the floor?” she asked him after she walked in and stood on the dais. “Besides I hate this color. What am I, a five-year-old?”

         Tony looked up and he choked on his whisky, his eyes wide open and the mouth hanging down slightly.

         “You have curves,” he blurted out.

         That earned him a murderous glare from Carter who gathered the dress’ fabric again and walked on the catwalk towards him, jumping down when she reached its end.

         “I am way to sober for this,” she spoke, pouring herself a small portion of scotch.

         She had to bend over the low table to do that which gave Stark a nice view into her cleavage. Lucky for him, he managed to keep his face neutral when Carter took the glass, stood straight again, and gulped half of the liquor in one go. He either got this for free or was paying for it. To be honest, she did not care about that at all. She just wanted to be done with this freak show already.

         When Carter got back to the changing room, there was another dress waiting for her. She took off the first gown and tried on the new one. It was strapless and the bodice was really nice, the upper part clinging to her breast almost perfectly. Same for the lower part where fabric was draped horizontally to resemble a wide ribbon, its sides embellished with sparkling crystals. What she did not like about the dress, was the weird shade of pink-peach mix of colors, and that the front part of it ended in the middle of her thighs while in the back the sheer fabric of the outside layer of the skirt was flowing almost to her ankles like a bunch of textile fox tails. Plus it was not possible to wear any type of bra with this dress. She sighed, took a sip of the scotch, and went back to Stark to tell him that he was out of his mind.

         “I’m a grown woman, Anthony Stark, so treat me as one, not like a little girl or I swear I’m going to lock you up in the basement and not let you out for a week,” she told him while standing on the dais, her hands on the hips to accent that she was not going to be the one to mess with.

         “Mmm…” Stark was ogling her bare legs and it took him a moment to notice that Carter was saying something to him.

         “You’re so fucking hopeless.” She threw her hands in the air in frustration and went back to try another dress.

         There were three of them waiting for her. The first dress had a really nice deep red color reminding her of red wine. It seemed to cling to a body, but the bottom of it was covered with a super puffy cloud of sheer fabric. It made anyone who would wear it to look like a shoddy figurine on the top of a wedding cake.

_Who would want to wear it?_

         Carter did not even bother to try it on. The next one was the prettiest one she had seen so far. It was in a few different shades of mossy green and silver colors, a bit sparkly but not too much to make her standing out unlike the first dress. Sadly, half of it was completely transparent.

_I don’t need anyone to see that I’m carrying a gun._

         She sighed and reluctantly put this dress away as well. The third one looked as if someone had taken it straight from Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty's closet. Though their gowns looked quite nice, the skirt of this dress was too poufy and reminded her of some curtains haphazardly draped by a crazy aunt with butterfly-shaped clips. Also, it was an awful shade of purple with a pinkish shine to it. Carter wanted to bash her head against the wall, frustrated with Stark’s choices. He was known for his good taste, but today he had apparently forgot it completely.

         “Excuse me?” she called out, looking for Emily.

         “Yes?” The woman walked out from the room next to the one Carter was in.

         “I’m aware that it’s my boss who pays for everything, but nothing that he chooses for me is what I need. To be honest I’m not a fan of the kinds of dresses as you might have already noticed. Do you have by any chance a full-length dress, simple, black, and without many layers of fabric?”

         There was a look of surprise on Emily’s face and then she relaxed and smiled at Carter.

         “I think that I may have something to fit your description. I’ll be right back.” It was an odd change of attitude and she eyed the woman’s departure with suspicion.

         She took off the second dress she was still wearing, hung it, and put on a robe before Emily returned with a pitch black, velvet dress. The material was soft and delicate.

         “Try it on and call me if it needs any adjustments.” Just after these words the shop assistant was gone again.

         Carter was staring at the dress for a full minute, admiring its simple elegance. Then she touched it, tracing the sweetheart shaped bodice with the tips of her fingers. It felt stiff and further inspection confirmed her suspicions that it was structured kind akin a good quality corset. It took her more than a few seconds to find the zipper which was so cleverly hidden within the fabric. The dress hugged her body, flaring out from her hips into a mermaid hem. In the back it ended maybe two inches below her shoulder blades. The front of the bodice was making her cleavage more appealing than the previous dresses. Not that she cared about that. She needed a dress to do the job she was hired for, nothing more than that.

         She managed to zip up the dress by herself and then she tried to move in it. Thanks to the dress being strapless she could use her arms freely and despite the fact that the fabric clung to her skin like a latex glove, it was stretchy enough for her to take deep breaths. Then she tested how difficult it could be to draw a gun strapped to her thigh. She had to pull up the whole length of the skirt to manage that. _It definitely needs a long slit on the right side._ She sat, jumped, run, and tried to throw a few punches and kicks testing the dress even further. After that Carter put on her combat boots and checked herself in the mirrors. _It needs to be shortened a bit, maybe an inch or two._

         Emily came back to the changing room as soon as Carter called her. After a short explanation of what was needed to be done with the dress and marking both the length of the dress and the slit, she undressed and the shop assistant took the gown with her to make all the adjustments.

         Meanwhile, Carter put back her sports bra that matched a pair of hipster panties. Her usual lingerie was plain black and made from thin, soft, and stretchy material. She reached for her jeans when she saw Stark’s reflection in the mirror, an empty glass in his hand.

         “What are you doing here?” It took her a moment to get her act together, so she could remain casual despite the fact that she was half-naked and he was staring at her like a starving vampire.

         “I was tired of waiting for you.”

         His speech was slurred a little, indicating that he got bored of staring at an empty bottle of scotch.

         “Lucky for you, I was already getting dressed.”

         “Those are jeans, not a dress,” he pointed out, getting closer to her.

         She observed him carefully, assessing his drunken state in a five-point scale, where the five meant he was going to pass out in a few seconds. Right now he was somewhere between the second and the third point, definitely not suitable for driving a car.

         “Does it bother you, Mr. Stark?” she asked with a playful smile and then took a step closer to him, ditching her jeans.

         It was not too hard to notice his eyes wandering up and down her barely covered body. Carter counted on that to happen. It was easier to distract her boss and then steal his car keys than trying to convince him to hand them over to her.

         “Should it?” He smirked at her while he was still ogling her.

         “It would be so much more fun if it did.” Carter closed the gap between them and placed her hand on Stark’s chest, her fingertips tracing the outline of the arc reactor.

         She heard him suck in his breath and her smile grew wider while her hand slowly slid down his chest and abs until it reached his… suit pants’ pocket.  She wrapped her fingers around the keychain and pulled out the keys, stepping away from him. Stark looked at her completely confused. She could tell he had thought she had intended to slide her hand elsewhere.

         “Thanks for the keys.” Carter dangled them in front of his eyes on her middle finger and caught them when he tried to take them back. “You didn’t honestly think that I’d let you drive in this state, right?”

         “I’m not drunk!” Stark protested having another failed attempt at getting back the car keys.

         “Judging by your state, you have emptied the whole bottle of scotch. I don’t want to die in a car crash. And now, if you’re done with staring at me as if I was a tub of your favorite Ben and Jerry’s, I want to get dressed and I don’t need your assistance with this.”

         Tony understood that he was getting kicked out of the changing room. He left to find Emily and pay for the dress that Carter chose to wear at the gala with him. Ten minutes later they were on their way back to Stark’s mansion.


	4. Chapter three

_Las Vegas_

_Caesar Palace – Forum Tower Duplex Suite_

_Twenty minutes before the fundraiser gala starts_

 

The flight from LAX to MacCarran had been very comfortable due to the fact that Tony had chosen to use the Stark Industries’ Boeing 737-4B7. Carter had been sitting in the back section of the plane the entire flight, avoiding Stark like the plague. Their little encounter in the changing room had left her thinking way too much about her boss and the way he had been ogling her. From all the celebrities and rich people she had worked for so far, Tony had been the only person who had actually cared about others. At least he cared for her as his employee. He joked with her and annoyed her beyond belief with his antics and his way-too-flexible work schedule. Still, she felt like a human being when she was around him. When she had been working for all those famous people, majority of them had been treating her like a piece of furniture or, even worse, they had acted as if she had not been in the same room with them at all.

         Stark had tried to engage her into a conversation with him, but she had told him she had to work on the security details for the gala. It had successfully made him back off for the rest of the flight.

         When they landed at MacCarran, a black SUV car was already waiting to take them to the Caesar Palace. The ride through Las Vegas was uneventful. It was not until they had reached the reception desk that the three-ring circus had begun.

         The reception hall was circular and humongous; everything there seemed to have a golden glow to it, from marble columns and floor to the walls and ceiling. The reception counter was impressively long and ran along the wall, matching the size of the hall. The wall was covered with frescos depicting ancient Rome masterpieces. There were a few groups of people checking in and out, but Stark went straight to the VIP station. Carter followed him with a backpack strapped on her left shoulder and a big black duffel bag in her right hand. When she looked up, she noticed that the chandeliers looked like giant yellowish ladybugs sitting on the ceiling.

_Gross…_

         She stayed a little behind Stark, letting him get all the attention from the cute looking receptionist who was checking them in, all while flashing her not-so-only-professional smiles at Carter’s boss. Tony, for his part, was quite openly flirting with the woman, making her giggle like a school girl. Carter just rolled her eyes while trying not to feel jealous about the receptionist and the way Tony was acting around this one.

         The attraction she felt towards him had been always there, suppressed as much as possible because she had not wanted it to interfere with their professional relationship. She was a woman after all and Stark was a handsome man. But it was not his good looks she was so attracted to but his personality, his sense of humor, and his unpredictability that always seemed to surprise her in the least expected moments. She liked him even though she knew that she could never have him.

         Her train of thoughts was interrupted by Stark who had finally finished flirting with the receptionist and had gotten their room’s card keys for them. She was not surprised to see that he had checked them into _Forum Tower Duplex Suite_. It had a great view from the windows in the living room. The suite had been one of the few selected ones that Stark always rented when he was in the Sin City. The entrance was one floor above the common area, which included the living room, the dining and coffee areas, and a tiny kitchenette. The upper floor was split into two wings, each of them consisting of a bedroom and a bathroom.

         Carter went left while Stark chose the right wing. After the fifth review of all the security details for the evening, she decided to take a bath and relax before the inevitable.

 

         “The gala starts in twenty minutes!”

         Stark’s voice coming from the gallery between their bedrooms only annoyed her further. He stood there for less than five minutes and by that time he successfully encouraged her to tell him to go to hell and never come back.

         Carter was almost ready for the big evening. The holster with the smallest of her guns was already strapped to the inner side of her left thigh and the knives were securely attached to her combat boots along with a small set of tools for picking locks. She decided to pin her hair into a low and quite loose bun. The other two choices she had were to gather it into a high ponytail or letting it fall on her shoulders. The first one was not suitable for the occasion and the second hairstyle would obscure her visual field and get in the way if something were to happen. Carter’s makeup was as simple as possible, only some powder, black mascara with a tiny bit of black eyeshadow and terracotta-plum lipstick with pearl shine to it on her lips. The dress was the last thing to put on.

         After another five minutes of Tony’s pacing was interrupted by the angry swearing from the other side of Carter’s door.

         “For the fuck’s sake!”

         There was some rustling going on there for a few seconds.

         “Che due coglioni!” Stark heard a thud as if something heavy was dropped on the floor. It was followed by a juicy, “Ja pierdolę!”

         “Carter? Are you alright there?” Stark knocked on the door.

         “Vas te faire enculer, putain de bâtard! Yariyagatta na, ketsumedo yarou!”

         He took a step away when he heard her approaching the door. It burst open and he saw her holding a black piece of clothing to her chest. Before he could identify it, she turned around and he saw the unzipped dress exposing Carter’s naked back from the neck to almost a tailbone.

         “Could you help me with the zipper?” she asked with a definite hint of fury in her voice. “It is another reason for not wearing a fucking dress ever again.”

         It took Tony a moment to react. A day ago, he had seen her wearing only a set of sport underwear which had been clinging to her like a glove, but this time his imagination went a bit wild. It was something new to him to have such a strong reaction while seeing only woman’s naked back.

         He found a zipper and started pulling it up slowly. Stark could not help himself and his fingers skimmed over her smooth skin a few times. A grin of satisfaction appeared on his lips when he noticed her shivering after every time he touched her.

         “It’s not rocket science to do that. Why does it take you so much time?” she asked impatiently, glancing at him over her shoulder.

         “Don’t move,” he said, finally having the zipping up done and not forgetting about the small hook-and-eye closure to prevent it from sliding down. “I’m more used to taking off women’s clothes.”

         She fixed the dress a bit and smoothed it out before turning around to face him just to see a glimpse of surprise in his eyes along with a hint of lust if she was not mistaken.

         “You look gorgeous in this dress.”

         “Thank you.” She gave him a small smile. “We can go now.” She took a step towards the entrance door when he grabbed her hand and stopped her.

         “You forgot about something.”

         Carter looked at her boss in utter confusion. Her eyes grew wide when he reached for a big, square, black box lying down on the nearby table. He opened it to reveal a vintage, white gold plated sapphire necklace. The main part consisted of double leaves made of the small gems with a big water drop shaped stone placed in the middle. Before she could say anything, Stark took out the necklace and clasped it around Carter’s neck. She traced the precious stone with her fingers and looked down at them, noticing how the middle stone fits her cleavage perfectly.

         “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “But you shouldn’t have rent it for me. I’m fine without any jewelry.”

         “It’s not rented. I’ve bought it for you. And to pre-empt your next questions, these stones are real and it’s a gift for you so you can’t return it.”

         Carter was stunned and opened her mouth to tell him that this was completely insane but no sound came out of it.

         “Let’s go or we’ll be more than fashionably late.”

         Tony grabbed her hand and with a gentle pull he guided her out of the suite.

 

         The gala was held in the casino itself. Invited guest were gambling and all their winnings were going to be donated to the charity. The casino owners were also donating the night’s revenue to help children.

         Their entrance did not go without notice. Everyone stared at them standing in the doorway and a few ladies zeroed in on Stark the very second he showed up in the room. He insisted that Carter acted as his date. She could not refuse after he added that it would be a perfect cover for her to not stand out as his bodyguard.

         So they were in that big crowd of famous and wealthy people, who were chatting animatedly at the Baccarat, Poker, and roulette tables while drinking the most expensive champagne and whiskey. They mingled in, chatting with a few people while making the round from one game to another. Stark took two champagne glasses from the waiter passing by and handed one to Carter.

         “I can’t drink. I’m working,” she protested trying to find a waiter so she could hand him back the glass.

         “It’s just one glass.” Stark’s voice lowered to a seductive whisper and she felt that her defenses were falling down instantly.

_So much for resisting his charms._

         Then they got to the Craps table and she saw the excitement in Tony’s eyes. It was his favorite casino game. It took a lot of practice, a perfectly trained hand, and some luck to win. Stark had all of necessary skills, plus Lady Luck was usually on his side.

         Forty-seven thousand dollars of winnings later the pandemonium started.


	5. Chapter four

_An empty hallway just outside the Caesar Palace casino room_

 

The kiss felt amazing, especially when Tony kissed her back. In her opinion, he would definitely win any championships in this field. He gently nibbled on her lower lip until she let him in. He tasted like scotch and champagne, completely intoxicating. It only made her want him even more and in the most impropriate ways possible.

         A high-pitched scream followed by three gunshots pulled her out of the lustful daze she was in. She took a step away from completely confused Stark. The kiss was supposed to be a distraction for him, not for her.

         “Wait… How did we get here?” he asked looking at her with dilated pupils.

         “Hidden door,” she quickly replied and drew her gun from the holster.

         She was well aware that he did not buy it but she did not have time to answer his question.

         “Let’s go.” Carter grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the nearest elevator using his confusion to bring him to safety without him putting up a fight.

         She pushed the call button and kept her eyes on both ends of the hallway, attentively listening in case someone was coming their way. This hallway was empty since the assailants were busy letting the guest run through a door on the other side of the game room.

         Finally, the elevator came down and it was thankfully empty. She pushed her boss inside and followed him once she was sure that nobody saw them. Then she hit the button for the highest floor. The hallways up there led to the Forum Tower where their suite was located.

         “When we get to the room, you will stay there until I’ve taken care of them.”

         Tony was once again fiddling with his phone and, judging by what she saw on the transparent screen, he was getting his armor ready for him. She knew she could not let this happen. Still, for now she remained silent, letting Stark assume she had agreed with him. She did not have time to argue with him.

         Once on the upper floor, it took them less than ten minutes to find a way through the maze of corridors and find the Forum Tower’s elevator. The ride there was short. Tony fiddled with the card key for a moment before opening the door. He walked straight to his bedroom. Carter did not follow him. Instead, she locked the door leading to his part of the suite, and, wasting no time, she quickly ran to her own bedroom for the spare magazines in her bag. She left just before Stark called for her. Silence was the only answer he received.

 

         Carter took the service elevator back to the casino room. The hallways were empty, the sound of police sirens approaching the building still faint and distant, quite unlike the voices barking orders to spread up and sweep the game room’s immediate surroundings. She had to be focused now and eliminate as many of them as possible. With that thought, she gripped her gun tighter and drew a knife from her boot with her left hand. She took a deep breath and walked inside the game room pointing her gun at the nearest assailant.

         “Drop your weapons on the ground, kneel with your ankles crossed, and lace your fingers behind your heads,” she said loudly in the same tone that Sergeant Kowalski had used to tell her and her team to move their asses faster. “Of course we could do this the hard way, but best be warned that it’ll end with your inevitable deaths.”

         Out of the corner of her eye she saw another man trying to sneak up on her. She did not hesitate and threw the knife at him. The blade went straight through his throat. He gurgled something and fell on the ground convulsing before becoming completely still, his body lying there in the puddle of his own blood. That is when the rest of the assailants raised their guns, a veritable shower of bullets flying straight at her.

         Carter did not move even an inch. As if in slow motion, she saw rounds destroying tables, chairs, and walls, sending pieces of them in the air. When the fire ceased and the particles settled down on the ground their eyes grew bigger. What they saw seemed to be impossible. Carter stood there, alive and without any visible wounds. Despite the rubble and dust all around her, she was as clean as she was when she had entered the room a few moments earlier. The only two things that changed were the wall just behind her was now covered in bullet holes and Carter’s sneer.

         “She’s the mutant we were looking for, sir!” one of the men spoke, his gaze jumping from her to the guy who she suspected to be the team’s leader.

         “No fucking shit, Sherlock!” the leader growled while raising the gun she saw during the first minutes of the attack.

         It was a special, modified version of AEG type of weapon, more powerful and with a wider range than anything that could be bought by civilians. The clip was loaded in front of the barrel. It was made from sturdy transparent plastic containing four darts filled with the Mutant Cure. They could be shot one by one or all of them at once.

         The Cure had been developed by Worthington Industries five years earlier. It had been a big breakthrough for all the mutants who had been scared of their abilities or had been shunned by their families because of them. It had been supposed to help those mutants, but the Cure had been weaponized to be used against the whole mutant population. Worthington Industries production of this substance had been stopped soon after, but there had been rumors in the Internet that the anti-mutant groups both within and outside the government had synthesized the Mutant Cure and had been using it to attack mutants and nullify their powers. In most of the cases the nullification had been permanent; only the strongest mutants were able to regain their abilities.

         Carter was very well aware that she was not even near powerful enough to fight the Cure’s effects. It meant that she had to use her intangibility powers until all the villains were either unconscious or dead. It was because of her abilities that the bullets had not harmed her but had, instead, passed through her as if she was a ghost.

         Her powers had first manifested soon after her father’s death. She had been so devastated after his passing that the line between being responsible and reckless had become nonexistent. She had joined a group of troubled teenagers and had followed them into the most risky dares they had been able to come up with. One day she had been challenged to ride a bicycle on top of one of the train rails. She had been supposed to ride like that for fifty yards to complete the task. Unfortunately, a freight train had been diverted onto those very same tracks. She had lost her balance and had fallen onto the rails. The train had been going at full speed. She had heard the high-pitched screetch of the breaks and panicked screams. Carter had kept trying to move off the tracks but the train had been too close. Instead of pain, she had felt a weird cold tingling just before she had slipped down the ballast, completely unharmed. She had seen the pieces of bicycle falling from under the wheels. She had not understood what had happened and her friend had fled the scene most probably assuming that she had been killed. In that moment she had realized how stupid and irresponsible she had been. She had gone straight home, not even trying to reach out to her so-called friends. Soon after that incident, her mother had decided to move them to another state.

         Carter powers had then started to manifest more and more. She had been phasing through the walls, things had been falling through her hands, and a few times she had woken under her bed apparently phasing through it in her sleep. And then, a few months after the train incident, she had been approached by a man who had invited her to a school for kids who, like her, had been gifted with powers no other people possessed. For all intents and purposes, it was posing as a school for gifted youngsters so that nobody knew what truly went on within its walls. There, she had learned how to control her abilities and she had discovered that, besides the perks of being able to phase through objects and other people, she had also been able to defy the laws of gravity. It had allowed her to move up and down through the floors and ceilings. The “disappear from the face of the earth” expression had gotten a very literal meaning.

         And now she was facing a group of seven assailants, all of them carrying guns and knives. On the plus side it seemed that only the leader was in possession of the dart gun. It was too big to be concealed under their protective gear, but she could not exclude the possibility of them having darts with the Cure hidden somewhere inside their tactical vests.

         There was a sound of concrete being crushed and then a bit robotic voice said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

         She whipped around just in time to see Stark in his Iron Man armor loading the palm repulsors. Carter knew way too well what he could do with them.

         “I’ve told you to stay in the suite,” she said glaring at him, even though she had known it would have been only a matter of time before he showed up. She had just hoped to have this sorted out before his arrival.

         “Carter you don’t honestly think that I’d allow you to have all the fun!” Tony shot at the villains’ leader destroying the dart gun.

         The man flew back and fell on the ground grunting in pain, his hand raw and red from the explosion of the gun’s battery. Carter kept herself focused on her powers to prevent any drop of the Mutant Cure to fall on her skin. Better be safe than sorry. The rest of the assailants were stunned for a second or two but then they rushed at them with their guns blazing. Carter ducked putting her gun back into its holster before pulling out two black combat knives from her boots. She gripped the handles tightly and phased down through the floor before one of the men reached her. After reappearing just behind his back, she stabbed him into right shoulder, making him drop his gun. She then dragged him down into the floor with her and left him stuck there with only his head visible.

_Three down, five to go._

         The next second villain number three fell through her from behind. She bit her tongue not to say a little ghostly “Boo!” Instead she pushed his upper body down through the floor. He got stuck with his legs up in the air. Her smile disappeared when she saw a dart with the Cure lying near where the man’s hand had been a moment earlier. She crushed it with a heel of her boot. When she turned around to face the rest of the assailants, she saw them all lying one on a top of the other like a pile of dirty laundry with Stark standing next to them, the front plate of his helmet up. The fight was over.

         “Which part of ‘Stay in the suite’ did you not understand?” she asked her boss while kicking the human stack to search the pockets of the ones lying below.

         They had no IDs, just dog tags with codenames and sequences of numbers.

         “I’m Iron Man,” he said matter-of-factly as if this explained everything.

         “You could’ve died here. They are mercenaries, professionally trained assassins who are as deadly as it’s humanly possible. Stark, what the fuck were you thinking?!”

         She yelled at him for the first time since she took this job. They had a few altercations along the way but none of them had led to screaming at each other.

         “What was _I_ thinking?!” Tony raised his voice too. “It wasn’t _me_ who came here without any body armor! It wasn’t _me_ who decided to stand up against eight armed to the teeth assassins with one gun and a few knives!”

         “I had everything under control! They couldn’t harm me anyway!” Carter threw her hands up in frustration and started to remove ski masks from heads of unconscious men.

         “And how was I supposed to know that you have these mad powers?! Would it hurt so much to at least mention something about them?”

         Carter took a deep breath to calm herself a little before answering his question. She did not have to be a foreseer to know she was going to be fired as soon as they got out of this mess.

         “Because I’m a mutant and there are some assholes hunting us down and stealing our powers against our will. The less people know about what we can do, the better. They came here for me, not for you, not for anyone else.” She took out a dart from a man’s vest pocket and showed it to Stark. “They were torturing a child to synthesize the Mutant Cure. This substance strips us of our powers by deactivating the gene responsible for our abilities. To them I and other mutants are just monsters who must be eliminated at all costs.”

         Stark’s face was unreadable. When she looked into his eyes there was something dark in his gaze. He wanted to say something, his mouth already opening when J.A.R.V.I.S.’ voice interrupted him.

         “Sir, the police is around the corner. I highly advise you and Miss Carter to leave the premises. I would also recommend pulling out those two men that Miss Carter grounded so conveniently.”

         “Shit!” she cursed under her breath and went to drag the two men out of the floor.

         She also took the knife out of the throat of the first mercenary she killed here. She wiped the blade against his pants. That was when she realized something.

         “The cameras…”

         “J.A.R.V.I.S. took care of them. It will look like as if they hacked them,” Tony interrupted while walking towards her. “We should go now.”

         She made a move towards the nearest exit but Stark pulled her into his embrace. Carter gasped when her body made contact with the armor.

         “We probably should take a shortcut this time.” He smiled at her before the front plate of his helmet slid down covering his face.

         “Fine.”

         Carter wrapped her arms around him and activated her powers at the same moment he lifted off from the ground. Police squads stormed in a second after Carter and Stark disappeared through the ceiling on their way to the suite.


	6. Epilogue

_Las Vegas_

_Forum Tower Duplex Suite_

 

         Stark got a little too excited and they shot out through the floors and high above the Caesar Palace’s roofs before he got them safe and sound into the suit. As it happened, he chose to bring them to his bedroom. He released Carter from his grip and stepped out the armor. He was wearing black sweatpants and Black Sabbath t-shirt.

         She staggered back a few steps until he helped her sit on the edge of his bed.

         “Jade, are you alright?”

         Instead of an answer, he got a surprised glance from Carter.

         “What?”

         “You’ve just called me by my first name.”

         “And?” he asked with a bit of confusion in his voice.

         “You’ve never done that before.”

         “Maybe I was waiting for the right moment,” he said, sitting down next to her and leaning towards her until their faces were only two inches apart.

         “The right moment for what?” she asked quietly not really knowing why she was almost whispering now.

         Tony just smirked at her and leaned forward more, closing the gap. She did not dare to move when his lips gently touched hers as if he was afraid of scaring her away with his actions. But he could not help himself.

         From the first day they had met, he had been aware that she was different than any other woman he had known so far. There had been something in her that had challenged him on every possible level. She had been bossy, but not in a motherly way like Pepper had been. She had been funny, she had been infuriating him sometimes, and she had kept him sober for most of the time. Jade had been supposed to be just his security detail, but she had become his friend and then something more which he had not dared to explore too afraid it would have made her leave.

         And tonight she had kissed him. He had been surprised, shocked even, when she had practically thrown herself at him. At that moment he had not cared about anything but her. Her lips had been so soft; the way she had been kissing him had made Tony forget that a bunch of armed to the teeth and dangerous people had been just one door away from them.

         The kiss had ended way too soon for his taste and even though Jade had acted as if nothing had happened, he had noticed her flushed cheeks, her dilated pupils, and the shortness of her breath. He had felt almost lightheaded realizing he had not been the only one affected by that.

         And now, he knew he wanted more than just a distraction kiss, he wanted a real one. So he took his chances and pressed his lips to hers. She first gasped but then he heard a quiet moan before she let him in, dropping down all her defenses and fears.

         She let him take the lead, but after a few minutes she could not stop herself from taking over. A moment later, Tony pulled her onto his lap, wrapping one of his hands around her waist and bringing her even closer to him. With the other one he reached to the back of her head and pulled the pins out of the bun, letting her hair to fall down.

         It was Jade who broke the kiss first. She rested her forehead on his, panting heavily as if she had just finished running a marathon.

         “I just have one question,” she whispered while tracing her fingers along his cheekbones and the jaw. “Are you ready for me, Tony?”

         “Can you say it again?”

         “Are you-”

         “The last part only.”

         “Tony,” she whispered smiling at him.

         It was also the first time she called him by his given name. He returned the smile but in a rather mischievous way. A second later she felt his hand going up her back and unhook the clasp of her dress, unzipping it halfway down.

         “I’ve told you that I’m better at unzipping them.”

         It made her chuckle as she remembered the moment when she asked him for help with her dress.

         “I’m sorry that I ruined it.”

         “I’ll buy a dozen of them, though I like it being so short,” he said sliding his right hand to her exposed thighs so he could remove the holster along with the gun that was still strapped there.

         “Oh, God! Please don’t do it,” she pleaded her eyes wide in a mock terror. “I don’t think I’ll be able to survive wearing another one of those.”

         “So, Miss Carter, are you scared of dresses?”

         “Why, yes of course, Mr. Stark. Every self-respecting badass girl is scared to death when she faces a dress.”

         He chuckled and then leaned back until they both fell on the bed. One roll over later and she was lying underneath him, their faces mere inches apart.

         “I’ve waited for this for so long, Jade.”

         “Me too, Tony.”

         Her hand moved to the back of his neck and she pulled him closer.

         “Jade-”

         “Shut up and kiss me already,” she interrupted him using the most demanding tone she could come up with in this moment.

         Tony had no other choice but to comply, not that he was going to complain about it since his heart had finally found a place it could call home.


End file.
